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Friday, January 31, 2014

This is Miriam’s quilt.She is a
wonderful woman who runs an in-home daycare and has watched my children since
we moved back to my hometown.Sam
absolutely adores her, as does Will, and as do I.It was such a change from the commercial
daycare we had used back in Blacksburg, but it was fantastic.The kids have so much fun, they are able to
run and play when the weather was nice, and when checking daycares she was one
of two in-home daycares that the commercial ones would recommend.She is a gem.Her family is wonderful as well, and they cared not just about our kids
but about our family.So it’s easy to
see why she deserves a quilt.

But why did I make her a quilt now?Well, she and her family are moving – they received a mission call to
run an orphanage/foster home, and they felt they needed to do that.It totally and utterly stinks for us (yes, I
am selfish about it), but I know that they will provide something special to
the children they’ll work with.

I made plans for the quilt, got it cut out, and started working on it
back in the summer.But it got pushed
aside some and is just now getting finished (I had to finish those Christmas
presents first). I loved the Great Granny Along that was going around (or had it already gone around – I always
seem to be behind on the hot quilts), and I had a roll of solids that was sitting
around.Since they are Mennonite I tried
to keep to solids and small prints as a nod to the Amish/Mennonite heritage,
although there are some bright colors in the quilt.(Different Amish and Mennonite congregations
have different rules about the use of certain colors, printed fabric, home
décor, clothing, and all other kinds of things.I am curious about that kind of stuff anyways, so I just asked her one
day about her church rules and of course noted what I saw in their house from
time to time so I could follow any restrictions.)I made the quilt throw size (and trimmed the
blocks too small by accident), using this tutorial from Lori Holt of Bee in My
Bonnet.

The kids started a new daycare at the beginning of the year.It’s a commercial one.It’s fine and a good place and they are doing
well there, but nothing will ever be the same as Mimi’s house.

Even though we paid her, I could never thank her enough for the love
she gave my babies while I was working each week.A quilt is one way I can try.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Sadly, the Viking could not be fixed.It needs parts that they don’t make anymore.I could have tracked down vintage parts, but
from what I found online it would cost about $250 plus mechanic’s fees.I love the old girl, and she definitely has
sentimental value to me, but if I had to spend that much money I would rather
put it towards a new machine with a bigger throat for quilting.

When we were cleaning up the study after the fire, my Mom and I found
the receipt and warranty for the Viking.I can’t remember the exact cost (around $400?) in 1983, but the warranty
was pretty awesome – 25 years.Not.even.
joking.That’s laughable today.She was only 5 years out of date.

**We saved the papers, but those are all getting cleaned/stored in a
warehouse right now, so I’ll find it later when they’re moved back in and get a
picture of it.**

Back to my story - I started hunting.I was going to get a Viking since I had all the feet and bobbins and
whatnot and loved the quality of my old machine.But all their machines are computerized and
have a gazillion stitches and auto tension and tons of bells and whistles.And were $2,000 on sale for $1,799.*Gulp*The current lineup is nothing like my simple, mechanical old girl.I didn’t need all the bells and whistles.I needed a workhorse that can sew denim and
diapers and quilt like a mo-fo.And my
husband pretty much drew the line on the price.Which I kind of agreed on.

So I kept looking and reading quilting blogs.And I kept coming back to Juki.I had thought about them before but written
them off because there was no local dealer and no way to try it out before
purchasing (the closest dealers are in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, about 5
hours away).But the lack of local reps
seemed to be the norm, and most of the ladies said it was never a problem and
their local repairmen could service theirs with no problem since it was a
mechanical machine.And they all LOVED
it.

These were the pros that kept coming up in blog after blog after blog
review:

mechanical (no computer) and metal

great tension

large throat space

could sew through anything (and in one case
sewed through a finger – eek!)

fantastic for free motion quilting

Here is my list of needs:

can sew through anything – diapers, denim, home
décor fabric

quilts awesome

big throat space

good tension

mechanical (less is more – I didn’t need 300+
stitches) and metal – not lightweight plastic

It was a pretty good match.The
only drawback was the straight stitch only, but I have my Brother CS6000i that
does zig zags and buttonholes and fancy stitches.Ultimately, I wanted a machine that could
handle quilting.And the Juki did
that.

I went for the Juki TL 98Q, but it was out of stock (it was the older
model, which I chose for the lower price).I did get $100 off the purchase of the newer model, the Juki TL 2010Q,
which was a good thing.And the package
I found included 100 needles, 20 extra bobbins, plus some feet and cleaning
supplies and such that usually come with it.And a $50 gift card to the store.All in all, I spent $950 on the machine, and I’m hoping she lasts just
like my mom’s Viking did.

So far, I’ve used Marge on my mother-in-law’s quilt and a quilt for my
babysitter.And lots of piecing.I have to say, the extra couple of inches of
throat space make a huge difference.And
the auto-thread cutter, needle down function, and speed control are pretty
awesome.

Here she is next to my Brother CS6000i. Marge is a beast. The Brother looks like a toy. :)

I also want to say, I was very disappointed with my local Viking
dealer.I was telling them that I really
wanted a mechanical machine, something simple but strong, metal, etc. and that
I wished they made one like the Juki because I loved my Viking and all the
accessory feet and that they were fairly local but what I really wanted was
something metal and heavy and simple.They
said I just needed to try a computerized machine and that the people who gave
bad reviews online just hadn’t taken the classes for their machine.?!?!?!?!?!
Whoa Nelly.I consider myself a
fairly experienced sewist – I’ve put in a lot of hours growing up and over the
last few years especially, so I shouldn’t need to take a class to run a sewing
machine.In fact, that is the exact
opposite of what I wanted.Yes, I know
classes are beneficial to learn tricks, but you shouldn’t have to take one to operate the darn thing.And the way they said it was kind of
insulting to me.Like I was stupid and
just must not know better because I’d had a 30 year old machine.It made me sad, because I did LOVE my old
Viking so much and really wanted to stay loyal to the brand.But after that conversation I was so glad to
get my Juki.

**Viking people, if you ever stumble across this – some of us want a
simple, heavy machine like the Juki.Make one!**

I ordered my machine from Sewing Machines Plus online.The lady I spoke with on the phone was very
nice, and my machine was here pretty quick.The only hangup was picking it up, and it's more funny because it's an example of my crazy inner dialogue. I had to sign for the machine but wasn’t at home
so I scheduled to pick it up at my local UPS distribution center.The lady couldn’t find it (yikes!) but I kept
thinking it was the big box *right there,
RIGHT THERE.*Then when she found it
(yes, that box!), she kicked it over
to me – the box was 40 lbs.As she was
kicking and shoving it across the floor, I was mentally screaming “There’s a
thousand dollar sewing machine in there!”I was ready to kick her in the lady bits for kicking my machine.Man was I glad to get my package out of there
before my mouth said what my mind was thinking.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

This is the last quilt I completed – and really I guess the only quilt
I’ve completed since my Scrappy Trip-Along quilt in May.Gosh.That’s sad.But I’ve got a bunch
in the works now, that’s for sure.

Anyways, back to my original topic.I knew my mother-in-law would like a quilt from me, and I figured what
better than a quilt (something I love to do) made with fabric from my stash
(that I need to use). The pattern is Canyon Trails in the June 2012 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting (with the finished size adjusted).It is a traditional and simple pattern, but putting the blocks on point
and alternating the lights and darks make it a bit more lively.

To make it even better, I pulled
fabrics that would go with her home and that I no longer loved (not that they
are ugly per se, they’re just not my style anymore).So it was a win-win in that respect.I got a few of the fabrics worked down to the
scrap basket! The back is pieced from leftover green yardage (green is her favorite color).

I pulled the fabrics way back, started cutting out the quilt in
October(?), and then it sat.I made a
few blocks, and it sat some more.I just
didn’t get much sewing done with a young infant.But then it got down to the wire.I needed to finish this quilt – it was a week
before Christmas!I really thought I’d
have to give my mother-in-law a quilt top with an IOU on the quilting.But somehow – somehow – I not only finished
the quilt top, but was able to quilt it, bind it, and wash it to give her on
Christmas morning.I kid you not; I
pulled it out of the dryer Christmas morning after the kids saw their Santa
presents, wrapped it up, and hit the road to give it to her.

It is quilted with Baptist fans.This was a new design for me.And it was the first attempt at quilting on my new sewing machine (blog
post coming, I promise).I was nervous
about trying a new design and not marking it and such, but it actually wasn’t
hard, and I got pretty good at it.

It was also my first attempt at machine binding (remember this was
Christmas Eve night after the kiddos had gone to bed, so I was in a time crunch).That didn’t turn out so great.I had to fix several places, and I’ll readily
admit it’s not my best work and is the one thing I wish I could change.At some point I might offer to rip it all out
and hand bind it for her, but I guess if it doesn’t bother her I won’t worry
about it.

She really loved the quilt and admitted she had wanted me to make one
for her.So I can check that off my
list.

Monday, January 13, 2014

It's been so long. Things have been so interesting the last several weeks. *I'll intersperse some random pictures because this bad boy has gotten wordy.*

Of course I am still working on the new normal - life with two children, working full time, being a farm wife, plus all the projects I want to do to improve our house and all the sewing projects I have spinning 'round in my head. I have been able to get some things done, but I haven't posted. Because really, when you've gotten everyone off to work and daycare, put in a day at work in front of a computer, made supper, bathed and gotten babies to sleep, and have an hour or so before bedtime, are you really going to sit down at another computer and blog, or are you going to sew? I sew. It's my therapy, my calm. It literally makes me calm and happy. If I'm mad at my husband, I go down to my sewing room - better to cut some fabric than to (figuratively) cut him.

Anyways, on to the last few weeks. On December 11 (two weeks before Christmas) my parents had a chimney fire. I was scheduled to have my wisdom tooth (just one) pulled, so I was off work. The actual pulling wasn't that big a deal, but I was humming Christmas carols through it just to keep my mind off the fact that he was pulling a tooth from my mouth! On the way home, my husband called. Luckily, none of their important belongings were damaged. However, between the smoke smell and restoration work, it's not really livable right now (it affected the main living spaces), so they've been living with us.

I have a guest bedroom and bathroom and a family room and den, so it's not a horrible setup. They miss their own space and all their things, and we miss our privacy, but all in all it was very lucky that everything happened just the way it did. I will tell you, there are some little projects and things that Mom and I had planned but didn't get to because we were lazy, and that ended up being a blessing. God is so good, and you never know why things do or don't happen until you look back later.

Between the fire and Christmas, everything got sideways. Our Christmas was kind of bedraggled and not quite as festive as normal, but we still enjoyed it. Then it was New Year's and the kids started a new daycare (another story and post). Along with all that, we've had illness. First, I had my wisdom tooth recovery, got worn down from cleaning out the smoky house for two days, caught a 24hr stomach bug (luckily a very mild case), was healthy for a few days, then got pinkeye right after Christmas (along with Sam and Mike and my sister-in-law). Got over that and got another cold not two days later. I'm dealing with it now.

So that's life these days. Never a dull moment around here.

And we just started lambing season, so I'll be dragging the kids to the barn to help out with the baby lambs here soon.

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About Me

In which I pretend I am a cool kid and people care about what I have to say. Farm daughter, wife, and mother of two. Quilting & sewing obsessed fabric hoarder and self proclaimed aficionado of trashy romance novels. Lover of yard sales, thrift stores, and DIY.